GBArmy

Hucast21 Did you appeal on your headaches claim; what's the status? If not, maybe we can help. Maybe there's an angle you haven't thought of. Up to you.

Kuwaitin08 Sounds like you have a pretty knarley disability there brother. My guess is they would rate it analigus (spelling?) to Meniere's disease if it had most of the same symptoms ex. dizziness, balance, headaches, etc. But, you can be rated on one disability or several components, but not both ways. Look up CFR 4.87 schedule of ratings diseases of the ear. You need a specialist, not a self diagnosis, that you have a certain disability. Your new diagnosis is hard to come by; make sure you have a strong IMO from your hearing specialist that get your s-c tied in. The VA just won't give out disabilities on less frequently submitted disabilities. A second supporting IMO from another doc is something I would certainly consider for an investment.

DSIG Welcome to Hadit. On your question there is in my humble opinion no right or answer here. You can go with your gut and go back to LHI and state your case. If they say no change, then go to your RO. You could also have your cake and eat it too. Why not go to the exam and do your best. Take notes on what went wrong with the exam ex.how long it took, inappropriate questions asked, etc. If you get a favorable exam, you win. If you don't, you challenge the examiner by going to your RO and stating his/her credentials and why it was inadequate, and ask for a re-do. Totally up to you. You have a great deal of an advantage by doing your homework and checking out this examiner; good job by you. Use your knowledge wisely. If you do decide to go and see this examiner, don't tip your hand, because then he can stack the evidence against you by misrepresenting your responses. It is kinda like a free shot at this but do what you feel is going to be the best for you. Best of luck to you.

Jackets90 Welcome to Hadit. Based on some assumptions, you should have submitted your claim as aggravation of a preexisting condition. Don't get hung up on the word migraines; the VA classifies different types of headaches under that term. You should look up diagnostic code 8100 and see what your symptoms are and what kind of rating you should be trying for. If it was a supplemental claim, what did you use as evidence? The VA has diagnosed you with the disability, so it would appear your issue is how to service connect it. Or, possibly prove your conditions have gotten worse based on s-c. Suggest you post your denial from your decision letter here on this post. Redact your personal info, like name, ssn, claim #, etc. Aggravation can be hard to prove; you need a strong IMO from a medical expert most of the time.

Buck As you said the max he can get is 10% for tinnitus. Period. What about applying for extra schedular? Above what is already maxed out? Not sure of the process but obviously he would have to get IMO's from specialists that call out the extreme difficulty he has dealing with it. You didn't say, but does he have a MH disability that he can tag onto or submit new? Certainly it affects him with depression/anxiety, etc. If he hasn't done so that is an avenue. Then maybe SMC (s)? I'd probably research some good claims agents on something special like extra-scheduler IMHO.

71monty Did you receive your decision letter yet? You need redact your personal info such as name, ssn, etc. and post it to this original post. There are any number of reasons, but the three basic elements of a claim are: 1) have a current diagnosis of a disability from a doc., 2) have an event or reference in your record that is the basis of your claim such as a fall and documentation of treatment for a bad back, and 3) a nexus or connection that links those two together. from a doctor. What type of discharge is on your dd214? Dishonorable would result is denial of the claim (But not treatment.) If you had prior treatment at the VA and admitted that your MH initiated either before you entered the service, or some other event happened that caused it, that would be a good example of the VA denying as not being service connected. Just speculation until we can see what the reason is in the decision letter. Did you have a VSO submit for you or did you do it by yourself? If you used a VSO they can see in the VBMS system what the letter said. If not, the decision letter should be in the mail in 7-10 days. We need a lot more info.

Oliver Your VSO isn't up to date. It is law, passed last month. (They didn't put hypertension on the list: too much money!) I you are a Vietnam Veteran, you should be good. You need a diagnosis of the current disease, or of the residuals of the disease if you had surgery. You still should get a nexus letter from a doc if you are claiming residual disabilities from it IMHO. You could try to skate by without and let the VA make the connection, but I wouldn't.

DisabledVet2020 You have symptoms of GERD. My guess would be 10% if you're approved. The main issue will be if you are service-connected. The easiest way would be secondary to meds you take for an already s-c disability. If you take aspirin for pain for example that would work. You would need a nexus letter that said you take Med X for control of pain for say headaches, and aspirin causes GERD. Otherwise you need to prove direct connection for in-service events on your STR's.

I have to put in my reorders. I use a full face mask, and for a while a year or two back, the mask would fail anytime after 30-40 days. They were giving me a hard time about replacements. Others must have complain though because the quality has improved to maybe every 4 months on needing to replace and they don't give a hassle anymore on it when I reorder. But though it helps, I still have a time falling asleep during the day if i'm just relaxing like TV or reading. What a pain.

1454thSoldier Should be straight forward. You had your initial sleep study and it showed you have at least mild or moderate OSA. You see the tech/medical person and they will discuss how to operate the machine (pretty basic stuff), help you select the correct mask type to wear, basic cleaning requirements, and then a next appointment to see how it's going. Their tech is now set up that the data is sent to them daily, so they can see your actuals, how much you are improved, etc. Used to be you had to periodically bring it in and they would read it off of the machine. It is sometimes difficult for the patient to get comfortable with wearing it, so it does take some trial and error. I know guys who got it and wore it for an hour or two, then put it away and never tried it again. It's up to you; your choice. If you have a family, maybe they want you around for a bit longer. Maybe not. But if you understand what OSA is, you understand some discomfort is usually a lot better than having a stroke or heart attack because you stopped breathing. I'm being blunt because some people just quit instead of trying to work thru it. Up to you 1454th; wish you well.

Retiredat44 Each VAMC is governed not only by VA directives but also by the individual states they are in. Comparing when a veteran got in another state is like saying your neighbor got a bigger property tax reduction on his house than you did. Apples and bananas. Do what I did. I talked to my GP; that worked. I would have next tried the Veteran Advocate office at the VAMC. Then I would have found out who manages the distribution at your location and contacted them. Or, the hospital director. Or the State Veteran Commisioner. My bet is someone with your preexisting conditions can get a sympathetic ear if you try hard enough. IMHO. Or, you could just complain about it. Be your own advocate. And, yes, the gov't is screwed up.

John999 Again, congrats! Hellofa ride. Good job on sticking with it. Good example for others too!

John999 "what kind of bs is that? You've been on this good earth quite a while. It's the government being the government. Do you expect that it's somehow going to start making sense? I'm in the same boat, as many of us are married to a non-veteran. But it's better if I get the vaccine even if her's is delayed, than for me to not get it. It is some protection. I just saw a prediction from our local doctor who is watching this situation closely, and she predicts for people 65 or older, the next group or tier, will take another 2 months. It's going to be a long haul.

John999 So what is the disability that they awarded? You don't know. Do you use a VSO; if not, go to one and ask them to look at the VBMS and see what it says. They probably will do it right away. My guess, pure speculation it is either they messed you up with another veteran and it should be going to him. Or, the evidence supported another disability and they put you in for it even though you didn't ask for it. It does happen, although most of the time you have to submit a claim seperately for it yourself.You shouldn't decline a disability award until you have the facts. They can open up your file again and start fishing around even though it could be a disability legit to you. Worse case, wait for the decision letter and read it carefully. We all would like to know how you make out.

63Charlie Congrats, brother. Keep working at it for SMC's!

I've had several exams over the last year or two with VES, LHI. QTC, and the VA. Some have been actual face to face, some virtual and some A.C.E. where they review your records and you are supposed to be stand-by in case the examiner needs clarification on something. Things are "a-changing", as Brokensoldier indicates. (By the way, my hat's off to him for his continued advocacy of veterans at his VA position. Keep doing what you are doing, brother!) What I have seen a few times are that their systems for contacting (and re-contacting) veterans is not very good. I call Peggy, find out that I'm going to be scheduled for a C&P at a contractor, like LHI. I then call the contractor, and proceed to get into their system for the exam. If they have a web page, sign on to it. I wait a week, then call again and find out they need (more) info to proceed. We get that done and then within a week I get either a phone call or a letter confirming the details of my now scheduled exam. I found that not doing this process, it just hangs in iimbo; you have to advocate for yourself. As long as you're polite, there is no issue. You are actually doing them a favor; they may have a work order, but they don't get paid unless they actually do the work, so you are helping them with the process. Like everything else with the VA claims process, you need to advocate for yourself because it means more to you than anyone else.

ywrw I'm not saying you should be inventing disabilities; that would be fraud. But, if I were you, I am absolutely positive that your current disablity, would be affecting mentally. Anxiety, depression, etc. If I were you I would look up MH symptoms for those,at minimum, and see if you have any. If so, get a through exam from a specialist and diagnosis and a IMO/dbq that supports the new disability. If your symptoms are affecting you in normal social and working activities, you may have some MH issues. Example, leakage prevents you from working/employment. Don't socialize because your embarrassed you may have an accident.

Berta is the resident expert on Nehmer and she has commented on it. I would suggest that you consider the lottery saying "you can't win if you don't play." You have to win your claims first, then, appeal most likely on the EED if you need to. I also suggest that you order your c-file; going to take a long time to get but there very well can be some great info in there from years past. Get going my friend.

Vync Good advise from all. I would not hesitate. Depending on what disabilities your father submitted and was denied for back when, there are several disabilities that you have listed that could be considered presumptive. There is potential for a very big load of cash on this. Get a good law firm; CC&K and Woods and Woods are two of many great firms, but get a good one. The VA will have their "A" Team on this because of the potential early EED potential.

Agree with brokensoldier. Very possible. As yu say, though, you're going to need a good nexus from a specialist to connect it, but it is a logical secondary route to claim.

Johnny_Drama OCD is a mental Health disability, as is PTSD. If you are rated for one, any additional MH diagnosis is evaluated to see if the symptoms increase your level of disability in the same diagnostic code for mental health. Going from 70% to 100% means you are totally unable to function with others. IMHO you might have much better luck connecting OSA as secondary with the proper evidence and IMO, but I believe that sleep disorders also can be symptoms of MH. If the VA goes that route, it would not be a separate disability.

What branch of service, when was he in country, did he serve in DMZ,what was his MOS? What does he have for medical disabilities?

Buck Now there you go again. You're using logic. We are talking about the VA here. What makes sense does not apply!

Lfox You need to have an eval by a board certified neurologist. Quite possibly you have memory losses now and other residuals that they will determine. Look at diagnostic codes 9305 for vascular neurocognitive disorder and possibly transient ischemic attack/stroke, dc8008. So you file stroke from the surgery for your primary s-c disability, and residuals, to include, but not limited to mental health conditions. It depends on what your doc finds as symptoms.

I should add, though, today is a holiday. I assume you called before today, correct?